WHITSETT, NC VETERAN PUNCHED MANY TICKETS

Writing about veterans comes with distractions.  For example, when writing about Whitsett’s William Ira “Bill” Brown, one could easily be distracted by his years as a special investigator – think private eye.  Brown was chief investigator for a Richmond, VA insurance company and later for the Newport News Shipyards.  He moved to Whitsett in 2003 and formed his own private investigation company.

ARMY INFANTRY CAPTAIN AND RETIRED FBI SUPERVISOR
HAS MANY MEMORIES

Writing about his 23-year career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation could distract as well.  He served a year in Miami, FL; 12 years in Chicago, IL; and 10 years in Norfolk, VA.  He retired as Supervisor of Special Agents.  Writing about his service as a Supervisor of an Organized Crime Squad in Chicago is particularly tempting.

Or, we could write about Brown’s childhood – he was the eighth of eleven children born to a Jones County, NC tenant farmer – two died in infancy.  Brown was the last of his family to be delivered at home by the community mid-wife, Sister Miley Brock.  “I teased my younger siblings because they were ‘hospital babies’ (Parrott/Lenoir County Hospital in Kinston).

MARIAN BROWN SUTTON STILL LOVES HER LITTLE BROTHER
WHO LOVES HER BACK JUST AS MUCH

When we questioned where she got all those babies, Sister Brock insisted she found them in a ‘Stump Hole’ in the woods.”

The Brown family’s connection to NCA&T University could derail a veterans story. There is no Brown Building on campus, but Brown’s mother, Agnes Meadows Brown, was the school’s Mother of the Year in 1962.

With just cause -- her children; Thomas, Robert, Sadie, Marian, Raymond, Cecil, and Bill all attended NCA&T.  Leslie and Clement attended Davidson and Wake Forest University respectively.  The observation that all nine surviving children of a tenant farmer attended college could certainly take you off topic. 

   

Brown’s two years with the Peace Corps is a stand-alone story, but space only permits paragraphs.

“I was accepted by the Peace Corps during my sophomore year at NCA&T.  After three months of outward bound-type training at the University of New Mexico I joined a three-person team in Brazil.  Our team was politically correct – a German girl had health services, a Jewish guy had community development and I had agricultural extension.  We worked in a semi-arid part of the country – the main thing I remember -- most of the plants were thorny! 

We were paid a small stipend and $75 per month was placed in our bank accounts back home.  The stipend was small, but seemed large by Brazilian standards – when cashed, it amounted to a briefcase full of their currency.”

With Brown’s completion of Peace Corps service came his return to NCA&T and his eligibility for the draft.  “After summer school in 1965, I was drafted into the Army.  Following basic and advanced infantry training at Fort Gordon, GA I was assigned to the Live Fire Firing Range.”

Brown was selected for officer’s training school at Fort Benning, GA.  He graduated in November, 1966 -- tenth in his class of 150.  “I was assigned to my previous firing range at Fort Gordon.  Commanding the same soldiers I had served with as an enlisted man was interesting.  Fortunately, I knew which sergeants I could depend on to keep me from messing up!”

FORMER CAPTAIN BILL BROWN EXTREMELY
PROUD OF HIS "WOLFHOUND" SERVICE

It was more “when” than “if” that Brown would serve in Vietnam. “I arrived in country in April, 1967.  I took over a platoon in the 25^th Infantry Division’s, Charlie Company 1/27 Infantry (Wolfhounds) on May 6, 1967 -- two of my men were killed that night.  I prayed to God for His protection to get me through Vietnam – thankfully, He did.”

PLATOON LEADER BILL BROWN TOOK HIS SOLDIERS ON DEADLY
MISSION HIS FIRST NIGHT IN VIETNAM

Brown lost one other man over the summer, and was wounded twice himself, but returned to combat duty after week-long hospital stays.  In November, 1967 he took over the 38^th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon. “We had about 25 German Shepherds for scouting, another platoon used Labrador Retrievers for tracking.”

In May, 1968, Brown was assigned to Fort Riley, KS where he commanded a unit at the Army Correctional Training Facility.  “That was a tough job, we saw the underside of the draft, combat, and lowered standards.”

He was promoted to captain in 1968 and honorably discharged in 1969.  He married his childhood sweetheart from Jones County, NC.  They had two children before she passed away in 1996 from breast cancer.  Brown later married Greensboro’s Tina Akers, who had two children. They have six grands.

Should Brown write the book I have recommended, the story of the medic who nursed him back to health in Vietnam will be front and center.  “I heard a radio call that he had been hit.  Later, I learned he had lost both legs.  I’ve kept up with him over the years.  He has been teacher of the year in Florida and is a serious wheelchair sports competitor.”

      

  

   

WW II VETERAN, LAWMAN, GENTLEMAN

Even though former Guilford County Sheriff Walter A. “Sticky” Burch and I have attended John Willett’s Bible Study Group together for years, he has always spurned the invite to share his World War II experiences. 

That changed abruptly when shown a February 19, 1943 photo of him leaving Greensboro for aviation cadet training in Miami, Florida.  The photo was provided by Lieutenant Colonel Frank Montgomery, USAF (Retired), who was written about in these pages on June 3, 2017. 

74-YEAR OLD PHOTO RELEASES LIFETIME OF MEMORIES
LT COL FRANK MONTGOMERY USAF (RET) (CENTER KNEELING)
LONGTIME LAWMAN STICKY BURCH (2ND FROM LEFT STANDING)

That photo and the reunion between Montgomery and Burch spawned 74 years of memories -- they flowed much faster than I could write.

Burch has almost 99 years of Greensboro connections, but claims he was born in Asheville.  By accident.  “My mother was visiting there when I was born.”

He attended Asheboro Street and Gillespie Park schools before graduating from Greensboro High School in 1938, where he lettered in wrestling, track and football.  “My father died when I was 15, but Football Coach Bob Jamieson was like a father to me.

It is an urban legend that Coach Jamieson gave me the nickname that stuck with me more than my birth name.  I played end on the football team for three years.  You can be assured, Coach Jamieson was never convinced I could catch footballs like I had ‘sticky’ fingers.  Anyhow, the name stuck.”

Burch was several years older than the typical aviation cadet.  “I went to Presbyterian College on a football scholarship but probably did more in track.  I ran the 100 and 200 yard dash and anchored the 440 relay.  One day, I ran all three events against Clemson.  We won, but that was the toughest day of my life!” 

After one year in college and one year with the Greensboro Police Department, Burch answered the call to serve his country.

“I was a gung-ho aviation cadet in preliminary flight training in Miami.  My next stop was Middle Georgia State College in Cochran, Georgia, then to Nashville, Tennessee for classification.  My first actual flight training was at Carlstrom Field, Arcadia, Florida.

Flying was fun – I loved the PT-17 Stearman we trained in and did very well during take-offs and in-flight, but not so well with landings.  Two out of three wasn’t good enough.  I was shipped out for photo reconnaissance training.    Washing out was especially embarrassing inasmuch as the Stearman had the reputation of almost landing itself!”

Burch vividly recollects, “I cried like a baby after washing out of pilot’s training.”

Even though someone else did the piloting, Burch arrived in the European Theater in time to fly combat photo reconnaissance missions before V-E Day.  “It was just the pilot and me.  We typically flew at about 10,000 feet and photographed potential targets for the next day’s bomb runs.  Our small aircraft had guns but we weren’t sure they worked.  German fighter planes got after us occasionally, but we dodged more mountains than enemy bullets.” 

MONTGOMERY AND BURCH "CATCHING UP" AFTER 74 YEARS
SEVERAL MCDONALD'S CUSTOMERS "CAUGHT UP" WITH THEM

Burch returned to the Greensboro Police Department after the war and retired with 40 years’ service – he was Assistant Chief of Police at the time of his retirement.  Tack on two terms as sheriff for a total of 48 years in law enforcement.

“I was happily retired when asked to run for sheriff.  My wife did not want me to run, and was the happiest girl in town when B. J. Barnes ‘retired me’ the third time I ran.”

Mary Jones Burch passed away in 2011 after 65 years of marriage.  The Burches had twin girls and a son, seven grands, and six great-grandchildren.

He had an answer reminiscent of Secretary of Defense James Mattis when asked if dealing with bad guys for almost half a century upset him, “Not at all, but I upset a few of them.”

Burch remains philosophical about his longevity, “It’s easy to look back over nine decades and see that the good Lord had a plan for me all along – I thank Him every day for how He has blessed me!”

A long-time member of the Congregational United Church of Christ, Burch is a member of the Oriental Shrine Club and the Greensboro Rotary Club.

MONTGOMERY, BURCH & THETFORD ENJOY CRACKER BARREL MOMENT 2017
(BURCH RECOVERING FROM SKIN CANCER SURGERY)

On September 8, 2017, High Point’s Frank Montgomery will be 94.  On October 21, 2017, Greensboro’s Sticky Burch will be 99.  Two fortunate towns to be called home by two American Patriots.

  

HIGH POINT AVIATOR HAS NO COMPLAINTS

High Point’s Frank Montgomery must have wondered where he went wrong.  As an Army Air Corps fighter pilot, why was he helping off-load Marines and equipment from a landing craft during the Invasion of Iwo Jima?  And why was a Navy Beachmaster ordering him, “Get these vehicles off the beach?”

MONTGOMERY AS P-51 PILOT FLYING FROM IWO JIMA

Montgomery was a P-51 pilot with two problems – his P-51 was in route from Guam and the Marines were yet to wrest an Iwo Jima runway from the Japanese.  Both problems were solved expediently -- Montgomery would be one and one-half kills short of becoming an Ace by war’s end.

Montgomery took a respite from active duty after the war – built a place at the beach, purchased a family farm in Trinity, enrolled at NCSU, married Cynthia Smith, and built a house for them to live in.

Recalled to active duty during the Korean War, Montgomery trained new flight instructors for the B-25 bomber at Connolly Air Force Base in Waco, Texas.  A series of moves took him to air force bases in Selma, Alabama; Dover, Delaware; Greenville, South Carolina; West Palm Beach, Florida; Iceland, Denver, Colorado; and Amarillo, Texas.

By 1966, Montgomery was flying the C-130 Hercules.  His home base for the next 33 months was Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.  “The C-130 was noisy but versatile – there wasn’t much we couldn’t do.  We ran special operations, supported USAF strike aircraft, dropped personnel, equipment and supplies, and flew many rescue missions.”

MONTGOMERY WAS SILVER STAR RECIPIENT FLYING C-130 HERCULES (LEFT)
DURING VIETNAM WAR -- HAD 3 1/2 KILLS FLYING P-51 DURING WW II

Montgomery’s most vivid memory of Vietnam is May 12, 1968, “That was Mother’s Day.  My family was living on Okinawa at the time, but I could not get over to be with them.  Just as we were returning to base after flying most of the day, we were ordered to proceed to Kham Duc on an extraction mission.

Cork-screwing into the mountainous landing strip, we could tell the Special Forces Camp had been over-run.  We saw smoke, fires, two crashed C-130s and a helicopter along the runway as we went in.  Under heavy small arms and mortar fire, debris and wreckage down the runway -- and no visible survivors to extract -- I turned the aircraft around and prepared for a reverse take-off.

LT COL FRANK MONTGOMERY USAF (RET) SERVED DURING THREE WARS

Suddenly, U.S. Special Forces troops, South Vietnam troops and Vietnamese civilians appeared from all directions and swarmed under our propellers and into the back of our C-130.  I told the loadmaster to push everyone aboard and close the hatch – we were leaving in five minutes.”

For that Mother’s Day mission Lieutenant Colonel Frank Montgomery was awarded a Silver Star.  “When it was all over, we had brought 180 people out, plus two pigs!  The Vietnamese didn’t leave much behind!  I wish that Silver Star could have been cut into five pieces – my crew deserved it just as much as I did!”

After 28 years, eight months, 22 days, and over 20,000 flight hours, Frank Montgomery retired from the Air Force and returned to his High Point roots.  He chronicled his service during three wars and entitled it to fit his persona, “No Complaints -- I flew on the first day and I flew on my last day.”   

As a civilian, he promptly reverted to his propensity to build.  He and his sons formed Montgomery Investments, dealing with residential real estate.  At 93, Montgomery has turned everything over to his family.

Cynthia Montgomery died in 2003 – they had been married 56 years.  From the marriage came four sons, nine grands and four great-grandchildren. 

The Montgomerys were life-long members of First United Methodist Church – High Point.  “My Montgomery grandfather was a charter member of First UMC,” says Frank Montgomery.  “My Cranford grandfather gave five acres of the family farm on which Fairview United Methodist Church was built.”

After Ray Street Elementary and Ferndale Junior High, Montgomery graduated from Central High School.  He ran track for Central and set a state record for the one-half mile run in 1940.

FRANK MONTGOMERY WAS TRACK STAR AT
HIGH POINT CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

Frank Montgomery and his brother, James, a World War II sailor, were named to the Central High School Hall of Fame in 2016.

An interesting aside, Frank Montgomery’s chronicle of his service includes a photo of him and six others who left for the Army Air Corps on February 19, 1943.  One of the “others” is former Guilford County Sheriff Sticky Burch.  Burch had never seen the photo.  When shown the 74-year old photo, he exclaimed, “That was a London Fog I was wearing!”

19FEB1943: CANDIDATES LEAVING GREENSBORO FOR AVIATION CADET TRAINING AT MIAMI, FLORIDA -- FRANK MONTGOMERY (KNEELING CENTER)
STICKY BURCH (SECOND FROM LEFT STANDING) 

Over 74 years later, Montgomery and Burch met again – but that’s another story.

               

INFANTRYMAN, AVIATOR, PARISHIONER -- DAN CAMIA

My interview with Dan Camia had fewer unintended consequences than his orientation flight to become a helicopter pilot.  In his words, “It did not go well.”  This should have tipped me off he was given to understatements.  After striking an uncharted power line, the helicopter went down – the instructor pilot, the enlisted observer, and Camia escaped injuries.

DAN CAMIA FIRST SERVED AS INFANTRY OFFICER

Camia, an infantry officer serving a 13-month assignment in Korea, was not dismayed.  He completed helicopter pilot training at Fort Rucker, Alabama and was soon flying combat missions in Vietnam.

CAMIA STILL KEEPS A HUEY REMINDER IN HIS HOME

“It was a tough year for us in 1968,” recalls Camia.  “At one time during the Tet Offensive, we flew 36 straight hours under heavy fire in support of a U.S. Army base in danger of being overrun by the Vietcong.” 

After 13 months in Vietnam, Camia was back at Fort Rucker – as an instructor.  While in Vietnam, he had made the decision to propose to Nancy Balboni, a Boston College School of Nursing coed he had dated all their college years.  He did – she accepted – they were married in 1969.

“I went back to Vietnam again in 1971, and commanded an Assault Helicopter Company.  We flew combat missions on a daily basis, mostly at night, and predominantly in support of Special Forces operations.”

Surprisingly, Camia’s most memorable moment of his Vietnam tours did not involve combat, “Hundreds of Vietnam civilians were marooned on an island isolated by a ravaging flood.  Typhoon conditions prohibited normal helicopter operations, but a single volunteer helicopter crew would be accepted.

That was my most gratifying mission – our crew saved over 400, mostly women and children, from certain death.  This may shock those who know 15 is the maximum capacity for a Huey, but we brought out as many as 40 at a time!”

Company commands stateside and a combat aviation battalion command in Germany followed.  Camia served in the Pentagon, as well as tours in Vicenza, Italy; Stuttgart, Germany; and two tours in Heidelberg, Germany over the remainder of his 24-year career.  He retired as a colonel.

DAN CAMIA RETIRED AS A COLONEL

Inasmuch as they were married during almost 20 years of his military career, I asked about household moves.  Nancy Camia fielded that question, “We moved 19 times in 20 years!”

Dan Camia was well decorated for his service – the Distinguished Flying Cross, “For repeatedly leading his flight of helicopters into enemy held territory including seventeen combat air assaults with five at night,” and the Soldier’s Medal, “For rescue mission under extremely dangerous conditions hazardous to his own life.” 

He also received the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars, 36 Air Medals and many other commendations.  He was authorized to wear the Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, Master Aviator Wings (rotary & fixed wing) and Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge.

COLONEL DAN CAMIA'S AWARDS REFLECT SUPERIOR
SERVICE FOR HIS ARMY/AIR FORCE CAREER

As for medals and decorations, “While I am honored to have received these awards, I feel being an Army wife is the toughest assignment of all – Nancy is the one who deserves the highest award.  She kept our family going all those years!”

CAMIAS STAY BUSY WITH CHURCH AND CIVIC CHORES

She wasn’t into awards any more than her husband, but finally agreed, “Being a good Army wife wasn’t the easiest road.  Due to our frequent moves and raising two children, it wasn’t practical to pursue my career in nursing.  As a commanding officer’s wife, there were always entertaining and support chores that needed to be done.”

She did find time to tutor soldiers in English and math towards their GED, and teach nursing at Fayetteville Community College.

Camia, now 73, retired at Fort Bragg in 1988, and moved again – a shorter move this time, to Greensboro.  He joined Southern Importers, Inc. as regional sales manager and became chief operating officer before retiring again in 2003.

The Camias haven’t really retired, “For 13 years, we have volunteered at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville.”  They are active members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Greensboro.  They have two married daughters, two wonderful sons-in-law and two grandchildren.

Per Dan Camia, “I am a 4^th Degree Knight and Faithful Navigator in the Knights of Columbus and a member of their Color Corps.”  He overlooked the blank look of a Baptist layman, but I have since looked it up – it’s as special as he makes it sound. 

Nearing the end of our interview, he wanted to tell me about the medal he valued most of all.  I guessed it would be the Soldier’s Medal, since it is such a rare award.  I was way off, “Receiving the St. Francis Medal is the highest honor of my life!”  I looked that up too, and it is also as special as he makes it sound. 

       

  

      

CORPSMAN WITH A HEART FOR THE HEART

Please feel free to be surprised that I am writing about a veteran holding a patent for “The integrated bandage and electrical stimulation transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device.”  

In veterans-speak, Kent Riddle is a surprise-mill.  From, “My military roots go back to the Revolutionary War,” he fast forwards to World War II, “My dad went down on the USS Yorktown during the Battle of Midway – he was in the water 13 hours before being rescued.”

Evidently, that was enough Navy for his father -- he joined the Air Force and retired as a master sergeant.

The Riddle military roots did not stop with Kent Riddle or his father, “My son, Jeff has a degree in criminal justice from Appalachian State University and did counter-terrorism operations in the Coast Guard.  My other son, Ben was a combat engineer in the Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq two times.”

As an Eastern Tennessee teenager, Kent Riddle enlisted in the Navy in 1966 – think Vietnam War, “I wanted to be a submariner – they wanted me to be a corpsman.”  Marines consider Navy corpsmen as Marines, and Riddle’s career path reflected as much – Camp Lejeune, the Philippines and Vietnam.

CORPSMAN KENT RIDDLE IN VIETNAM

“Serving as a corpsman taught me God’s will for my life – I felt destined to take care of other people.”  Riddle earned a nursing degree from East Tennessee State University in 1973.  Much like his father had done after leaving the Navy, Kent Riddle joined the Air Force – as a member of the Nurse Corps.“

RIDDLE LEFT U.S. AIR FORCE AS MAJOR

“After Flight Nursing School, I served in aeromedical evacuation.  We were more like flying hospitals.  In flight, it’s you and the patient -- you are called upon to perform diversified medical procedures.  I learned that performing intensive care and emergency room procedures at 30,000 feet in altitude is quite different from land-based operations.

I have always been attracted to treatment of the heart.  When the discovery and advancement of interventional heart procedures such as coronary angioplasty came along, I knew I had to be a part of it.”

Given the opportunity to supervise the Cardiology Department of Madison General Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, Riddle left the Air Force as a major.  

After a few years, Riddle went with a California firm which developed many of the early breakthroughs in heart treatment and the use of medical devices.  He traveled all over the country and Europe, making suggestions for device improvements and enhanced treatment techniques.

Riddle became the California firm’s first product manager, but was attracted to another California start-up which dealt with a different cutting edge treatment of the heart – stents.  

“In the early days, angioplasty worked for a while, but the arteries often tightened up again.  Early stents saved lives by keeping arteries open longer, and as the industry improved, the success rate grew exponentially.”

Working during the frontier days of interventional cardiology and over the next 25 years, Riddle constantly sought ways to improve heart treatment and medical devices.  He ultimately earned two medical device patents – one pertaining to filtering blood clots and the second, which was mentioned in the first paragraph, which dealt with pain management.

“One day I realized my heart wasn’t in sales, stock prices, inventory levels, or return on investment – my heart was still in nursing.  I walked away from private enterprise, took a year off, rode my motorcycle across country, cleared my mind, and came back to Greensboro to resume my nursing career.”

RIDDLE SERVES AS RN/NURSING SUPERVISOR
FOR THE SERVANT CENTER

Two years ago, Riddle found The Servant Center.  Or vice versa.  “Serving as nursing supervisor at the Servant House has brought me full circle in nursing.  My duties now are similar to what I did in the military, except I do sick call for a barracks filled with homeless veterans instead of Marines.

“While the veterans under my care will not deploy to the Persian Gulf after their time at the Servant House, they will face significant obstacles transitioning from homelessness back into society.  Given that some of them have multiple medical issues, it is my job to help them make this challenging re-entry as seamless as possible.”

Kent Riddle and his son, Ben helped each other cope with their memories of war.  “Ben kept a small potted sugar maple tree in his barracks at Camp Lejeune.  He asked me to care for it when he deployed.  I planted it in our back yard and prayed over it each night until Ben came back home – it is now over 25 feet tall!”

Riddle chairs the Americanism Committee of the Greensboro Elks Club and was recently named 2016 Veteran of the Year. He has lived in Greensboro since 2005.

KENT RIDDLE MOMENTS AFTER BEING NAMED
ELKS CLUB VETERAN OF THE YEAR -- 2016

Visit www.theservantcenter.org to learn how you might serve alongside Kent Riddle.

OLYMPIAN IN OUR MIDST

While Colonel Guy Troy, U.S. Army (Retired) was a late bloomer as a modern pentathlon athlete, it did not keep him from winning a gold medal in the very first Pan American Games 1951 in Buenos Aires.  It wasn’t lost on Troy that another Armored Army officer finished fifth overall in the same sport in the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm.  That soldier’s name was Patton.

“Having served as a Cavalry Platoon Leader in Europe, I would have been happy if the Army had sent me directly to the Korean War from Buenos Aires after the Pan-Am Games.  Instead, they sent me to West Point to form and recruit a modern pentathlon team and start training for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki,” Troy recalled from his home in Liberty, North Carolina.

Perchance you know more about shooting baskets or pool than pentathloning, here are the Cliff’s Notes of competitive events: Fencing, pistol shooting, 200 meter free-style swim, 4000 meter horseback ride with 25 jumps, and 4000 meter cross-country run.

During Olympic try-outs, player/coach Troy did well his first two days, “I was first in fencing, second in shooting, and sixth in swimming.  I was about six years older than most of the runners and came in eighth.  My wheels did not run off in the horseback competition, but my horse did – she fell about half way to the finish line.”

TROY POINTS TO TAG REPRESENTING
 HORSE HE DREW IN 1952 OLYMPICS

Troy finished fourteenth in individual completion and coached his team to a fourth place position in those 1952 Summer Olympics, “Actually, we tied with Finland for third, but they won the bronze medal because they beat us in the cross-country.”

He holds no grudges against his Olympic steed, “That horse had some age on her.  She did the best she could.  After all, she was one of 14 hand-me-downs sent to us from Fort Riley, Kansas.”

At 93, and retired to his Liberty, North Carolina farm, Troy is still an Olympic enthusiast.  “Will I be watching the events in Rio de Janeiro?  You bet!”  

FORMER OLYMPIAN GUY TROY RECEIVED
EARLY COPY OF 2016 PROGRAM FROM RIO

He has served in many Olympic capacities, including event judging in 1972, 1980, 1984 and 1990.  He fondly recalls witnessing the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” at Lake Placid. 

Even though the Pan American Games and Olympic competition kept Troy from Korea, he later commanded an Armored Reconnaissance Unit.  He served in Vietnam as intelligence officer for the 25^th Infantry Division in 1967-1968.

Although Troy is a graduate of West Point, he originally enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps in 1942.

“I already knew how to fly.  When the war started, I knew I wanted aviation.”  During aviation training, he was selected for the Academy in 1943 and graduated in 1946.  He served Cold War assignments in Germany and Austria before and after his pentathlon competition.  In 1959-1960 he served as a Military Adviser in Iran.

Troy married Winifred Hildegarde Charles, who died in 2009.  They had two sons, Guy K. Troy Jr., a West Point graduate and retired military, and Thaddeus W. Troy, a 30-year CIA employee.  There are four Troy grandchildren.

FRANK HEBERER (L) AND GUY TROY
TWO RETIRED COLONELS WHO SERVED TOGETHER IN
CONSTABULARY FORCE AFTER WW II

Troy’s father, Dr. Thaddeus Troy, practiced medicine in Greensboro for many years.  He and Dr. Wesley Long III were cousins.  Dr. Troy served in World War I and retired from the Army Reserve as a colonel.

There is another colonel of interest in Guy Troy’s lineage – Colonel Andrew Balfour.  According to Troy, ‘He is my great-great-great grandfather.” Balfour’s tombstone on Doul Mountain in Randolph County reads, “ …murdered by a band of Tories at his home.”

Balfour’s execution by the notorious loyalist leader, David Fanning, was one of many such incidents in the Piedmont wherein Whigs were gunned down during the unofficial “Tory War” in early 1782.  It has not gone unnoticed by the folks of Randolph County.  An Asheboro community is named in Balfour’s memory, as is a DAR Chapter and Masonic Lodge.

Obviously, Troy is a man of many interests – in his Liberty environs of several hundred acres, he has farmland and timberland, “Right now, I would have to say, my passion is forestry!” 

He has his own tennis courts.  Even though he has ample room for a golf course, he opted out, “Golf takes too much of my day – I have other things to do.”

Troy is a founder and active member of All Souls Anglican Church in Asheboro.  He also serves with the Randolph County Honor Guard, which conducts hundreds of military funerals each year for veterans across the Piedmont.  He is active with the West Point Society.

RETIRED ARMY COLONELS  FRANK HEBERER AND GUY TROY AT
TROY'S FARMHOUSE IN LIBERTY, NC
DECEMBER, 2015

  

            

RICHARD CRAPSE -- MAN OF MANY SERVICES

Richard Crapse’s military service shadow box could be confusing at a quick glance.  It contains medals, decorations and awards from the Civil Air Patrol, the Marine Corps, the National Guard and the Air National Guard – all of which were stepping stones to his military retirement.

His Marine Corps service came first, 1965-1971.  “Our St. Petersburg, Florida High School senior classes cycled around the services – one year, most joined the Air Force, next year the Navy, etc.  My year was the Marine Corps’ year.”

NEWLY-WEDS KATHLEEN & RICHARD CRAPSE -- 1969

That was also the year recruit training at Parris Island was shortened from 12 weeks to eight weeks, “All that did was shorten the time between being a civilian and serving in Vietnam by one month – the Parris Island experience remained the same.”

Actually, Crapse was given a choice between Arctic Survival Training or Vietnam, “I didn’t figure a Florida boy would fare well in the Arctic, so by year end, I was lobbing 105mm howitzer shells into the Vietnam jungle.

Our guns were of World War II vintage and needed rebuilding after firing 50,000 rounds.  Several big wheels came out in the jungle to our battery to congratulate us upon firing our 100,000^th round – at 150,000 rounds we were withdrawn for refitting on Okinawa.”

As for World War II, Crapse recalls eating C Rations of that vintage as well, “They still tasted OK.”

From Okinawa, Crapse made brief stops in the Philippines and Taiwan before his 105mm battery was assigned to a Battalion Landing Team operating from an LST off Vietnam, “With amtracs, helicopters and small boats, we could do about any type mission.  We took casualties of all sorts – from enemy fire, friendly fire, and others from crashes and accidents.

At times, North Vietnam artillery was incoming from our front and big guns from the Navy were incoming from our rear.  Those were the times I wondered how it was in the Arctic!

During one operation, we were too far inland to resupply from the beach and the jungle too thick for helicopters to land, so we had to improvise.  We took five-gallon cans to a river for water, and made a bath call while there.  The enemy jumped us in our birthday suits, but we had enough Colt 45s close by to ward them off.”

While Crapse was flown into Vietnam in an air-conditioned airliner with stewardesses, getting out was more complex, “Offshore, aboard a Navy ship, I was told I had been rotated and that a helicopter would pick me up.  It never showed and the small boat I could have caught left the ship before my gear could be loaded. 

I was finally helicoptered to Da Nang, but my orders could not be located.  I missed the short-timer flight from Okinawa by one day.  While in the waiting mode, a typhoon came through and blew away the shed in which my seabag had been stored.  Most of my personal gear and uniforms were lost.

After traveling on emergency orders, I reached Travis Air Force Base and eventually made it to safe haven at Camp Lejeune.”

Later, Crapse interviewed for duty at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., home of the Marine Corps Band and ceremonial drill teams.  “I told them, no thanks, but they told me it was an order, not an invitation.

I was honored to be at Marine Barracks, but did not want to stay, so I signed waivers to go back to Vietnam.  Instead, they sent me to Jacksonville, Florida, where I signed more waivers to go back to Vietnam.  This time they worked, but only got me as far as Okinawa and Japan for a year or so.”

It was back to Camp Lejeune in 1971, where Crapse was again ordered to Washington, D.C. – this time to quell Mayday protests.  “We were dropped into the Mall to take back the Washington Monument from protesters – the Park Police had given it up and taken cover inside the Monument.

The next day’s Washington Post identified us as secret storm troops.”

Crapse admits that his time at Marine Barracks wasn’t all bad, “I escorted six girls to an Evening Parade one Friday evening.  I shuffled five of them off to buddies, but kept one for myself – Kathleen Pummer, from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and I have been married 47 years.”

RICHARD & KATHLEEN CRAPSE -- 2016

Kathleen has a master’s and law degree from Campbell University.  Her law practice was in Reidsville, where they have lived for the past 24 years.  Richard Crapse has worked in law enforcement and the Greensboro Housing Authority.